1 00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:03,360 If you believe God is good today, say Amen. 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:06,720 If you believe that God is here to say today, say Amen. 3 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:11,280 And if you are ready to surrender everything and allow 4 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:14,880 him to speak to you, say Amen. Amen means so be it. 5 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:18,280 So be it. We're we're going to jump into 6 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,640 God's word here in a minute, but I need your help real quick. 7 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:23,720 I need you to help me finish this statement. 8 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,560 It's something I think you know pretty well at Progressive. 9 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:34,200 We can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we 10 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:37,360 can't protect your home in Otto when you bundle and save with 11 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:40,080 us. That's what some of my favorite 12 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:41,640 commercials these days are. Those Progressive. 13 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:43,000 Do you guys like those commercials? 14 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,920 Why do we like them so much? Because they're true. 15 00:00:47,160 --> 00:00:50,080 How many of you have started to see yourself becoming like your 16 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:51,880 parents? Teens. 17 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:53,760 Are you there yet? Yeah, some of you. 18 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:56,800 Yeah. So last week I went to lunch 19 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,840 with someone that that it doesn't live around here. 20 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:03,480 And when we finished lunch, they were getting ready to leave. 21 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,840 And I said, well, here's how you get to the Interstate. 22 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:08,720 And I started giving directions. And Megan turned to me and said, 23 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:10,480 they're just going to put in their phone. 24 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:12,240 Like, what are you doing? Leave them alone. 25 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:19,240 Well, that's just like, listen, my dad, if he has, if you ask 26 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:23,960 him where something is, he is going to draw you a map to that 27 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:26,760 place. He loves drawing maps and he 28 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,320 draws them so neatly and perfectly. 29 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:32,240 I mean, they are like, I think they're to scale and he draws 30 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:34,520 these perfect maps. And so I don't know what it is, 31 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,640 but I, I, I know I'm becoming and being transformed more and 32 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:40,320 more. Every once in awhile he'll be 33 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:44,240 here worshipping with us. And you know, I'm emotional and 34 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:46,960 we'll be singing and I'll start getting emotional and I'll reach 35 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:50,160 in my pocket and get a tissue and I will reach up to wipe my 36 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:54,480 eyes and I'll see him in front of me wiping his eyes at the 37 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:58,280 same exact time. And I just think, oh man, I 38 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,880 inherited a lot of things. There's studies that say that we 39 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,040 inherit, lots of studies that teach us that we inherit. 40 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:09,800 We learn behaviors. We tend to become like our 41 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:12,400 parents, the people who model for us. 42 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:14,840 Maybe you've noticed those things. 43 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:16,160 Maybe those things are good things. 44 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:17,840 Maybe they're not your favorite thing. 45 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:19,840 Maybe there are some things that you're like, I wish I wouldn't 46 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,520 have inherited that. You know, my my 5 head that I've 47 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:25,400 got here. It's comes from dad. 48 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:28,960 My hair just keeps moving back and my kids just keep making fun 49 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:33,000 of me more. But but man, I'm so thankful for 50 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,080 the good things that I inherited from my parents. 51 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:38,960 And here's the deal, whether it's good or bad, we're in first 52 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:43,800 John chapter 4 and we see that whether you inherit things from 53 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:47,600 your parents or not, we should look to God. 54 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:51,240 We have a model as to what it looks like to love each other. 55 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:53,920 And so we are in the middle of this love triangle series. 56 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:58,120 And the idea is that the more we draw closer to God, the better 57 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:00,680 we can love each other because we have this model. 58 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,960 Just as your parents, we're a model for things good and bad. 59 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:09,240 We have a God that shows us how to love each other. 60 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:11,880 So we're going to be in first John chapter 4, seven through 61 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:13,400 21. Stand with me in honor God's 62 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:15,880 word and listen. We said, Amen. 63 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,520 We said, so be it. We said God is good. 64 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:21,640 We said, God is here and we said we are surrendered and ready to 65 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:23,680 hear from him. So my prayer is that God's Word 66 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:28,600 will speak to us, speak to you, and that you will be open and 67 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,840 obedient to respond to his word. It says, Dear friends, let us 68 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,440 love one another, for love comes from God. 69 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,160 Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 70 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:45,480 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 71 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:48,200 This is how God showed his love among us. 72 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,280 He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might 73 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:54,320 live through him. This is love, not that we loved 74 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,800 God, but that he loved us, and he sent his Son as an atoning 75 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:02,160 sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved 76 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,520 us, we also ought to love one another. 77 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:09,080 No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives 78 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,800 in US, and His love is made complete in us. 79 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:15,960 This is how we know that we live in Him and He and us. 80 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:20,160 He has given us His Spirit, and we have seen and testified that 81 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:23,800 the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. 82 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,760 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, then 83 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,400 God lives in them and they in God. 84 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,080 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. 85 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:39,160 God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in 86 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:41,640 God and God in them. This is how love is made 87 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:45,320 complete among us, so that we will have confidence on the day 88 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:48,240 of judgment. In this world, we are like 89 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:50,840 Jesus. There is No Fear in love. 90 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:54,840 But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with 91 00:04:54,840 --> 00:04:58,040 punishment. The one who fears is not made 92 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:02,560 perfect in love. We love because He first loved 93 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:05,040 us. Whoever claims to love God yet 94 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:06,840 hates a brother or sister is a liar. 95 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:09,720 Whoever does not love their brother and sister whom they 96 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,600 have seen cannot love God whom they have not seen. 97 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:15,000 And he has given us this command. 98 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,960 Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. 99 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:24,840 You can have a seat. Three things we see in God's 100 00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:28,000 Word today. Look to Jesus, say, look to 101 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,040 Jesus. Grow in Jesus. 102 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,440 Say it, grow in Jesus and love like Jesus. 103 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:40,320 Look to Jesus. Grow in Jesus, love like Jesus. 104 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,480 This is one of my favorite passages when I'm doing a 105 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,880 wedding. I love this passage because the 106 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:51,240 truth is, as we stand up before a bunch of people or a few 107 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,880 people, and while two people are committing themselves to 108 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:59,640 marriage, the truth is we can only love each other to our best 109 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:01,960 if we're loving each other in the love of God. 110 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:04,760 I love this passage. God is love. 111 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,240 The more we know Him, the more we walk with him, the better 112 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:11,480 we're going to love each other. That's true of marriages, That's 113 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,760 true of families, that's true of coworkers, that's true of the 114 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,920 church. God is love. 115 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,520 Now here's the thing. We have a lot of confusion about 116 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:25,400 love in our world. There are a lot of different 117 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:29,320 pictures of love. You, you see different things in 118 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:33,720 movies, you hear in music, on social media, all these 119 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:36,360 different pictures of what love is. 120 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,040 We see all these and there's just a ton of confusion over 121 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:40,480 what love is. Here's the deal. 122 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,800 God does not want this to be a mystery to us. 123 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:52,160 God has shown us what love is. He is love and so He invites us 124 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:55,400 to know Him. Verse 7 Dear friends, let us 125 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,760 love one another, for love comes from God. 126 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:01,800 Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 127 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:07,360 Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. 128 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:13,640 How much time do we spend looking to movies, music, all of 129 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:17,120 those different places? And, and they tell us these 130 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:18,400 different things about what love is. 131 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,000 In fact, lately there's been this thing, I don't know what 132 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:24,240 this means. I don't know how the algorithm 133 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:28,640 is, what's going on, but I keep getting these ads that talk 134 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,320 about like, if your wife has fallen out of love with you, 135 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:33,080 here's how to get that love back. 136 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:34,840 And I'm just like, what's going on, Megan? 137 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:37,840 Like, what are you searching and what are you typing in? 138 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,360 But there's all these different, I mean, like Hollywood tells us, 139 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:47,200 you know, celebrities tell us, athletes tell us social media, 140 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:49,560 there's all these different things that try to teach us what 141 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:53,800 love is. But the world is is amazingly 142 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:58,360 confused at what love is. If you want to know what love 143 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:02,560 is, know God because God is love. 144 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,560 If you want to be a better husband, wife, if you want to be 145 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,440 a better father, mother, if you want to be a better friend, 146 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:14,800 boss, Co worker, look to God. Say look to God. 147 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:18,320 God is love. The best way to love better is 148 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:22,040 to know God. The more you know God, the 149 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,320 better you will be able to love each other. 150 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:27,360 How much time do we spend on those other avenues, watching 151 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,240 movies, all these other things? How much time do we spend 152 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:34,280 looking at those things that are teaching us a false view of 153 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,039 love? If you want to know what it is, 154 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:41,760 if you want to grow in love, look to Jesus. 155 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:46,960 That goes to verse 10, says this is love, not that we love God, 156 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,960 but that he loved us and he sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice 157 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,080 for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved 158 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:54,800 us, we also ought to love one another. 159 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,480 No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives 160 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:01,920 in US and his love is made complete in US. 161 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,440 So it says God is love. If you want to know what love 162 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,040 is, don't look to Hollywood, look to God. 163 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:11,560 And then it says this is love, not that we loved God, but that 164 00:09:11,560 --> 00:09:16,400 he loved us and he sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our 165 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:18,080 sins. So it goes on and spells it out. 166 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:20,640 God is love and this is what it looked like. 167 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,000 This is how it this is how it played out. 168 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:26,160 God sent his Son. He loves you so much that he 169 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:29,240 gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should 170 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:31,640 not perish but have everlasting life. 171 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:33,920 Praise the Lord, you should be excited about that. 172 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:38,600 That's why we can gather today. The gospel is that God loves you 173 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:42,400 so much that he sent his Son to pay the price for your sins and 174 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,200 give you life. But it gets even better. 175 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:50,320 I love verse 12. It says no one has ever seen 176 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:54,200 God. But if we love one another, God 177 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,000 lives in US and His love is made complete in US. 178 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:05,600 The closest thing you will see to God this side of eternity is 179 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:10,400 love that comes from God played out between each other. 180 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:12,480 It says nobody has ever seen God. 181 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:14,240 Now we had Jesus who walked the earth. 182 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:17,680 So, so Jesus was seen and he says we've seen and testified to 183 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:20,520 Jesus. We can see the evidence of God 184 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:23,600 moving, but it says nobody has seen God. 185 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:27,800 However, if we love each other, if we know Him and we walk in 186 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:35,560 His love, then we get a picture of it as He transforms us. 187 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:38,680 When we walk in the love of Christ, we can learn to love 188 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:42,120 each other in a way that shows God's love. 189 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:48,000 You want to experience God? You want to experience a move of 190 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,760 God. Know Him, spend time with Him, 191 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:56,240 and allow Him to transform the way that you love others. 192 00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:01,400 And you will see God at work. You will see His character in 193 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:06,960 His love at work. Over the years, many people in 194 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:08,560 the church have talked about revival. 195 00:11:08,560 --> 00:11:10,680 We want revival. We need revival. 196 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:12,520 How many of you have said that before? 197 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:16,280 We need revival. Some of you are lying. 198 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:20,000 We can't have revival if you're not going to be honest, guys, I 199 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:21,880 hear this all the time. We we need revival. 200 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:25,240 We want revival. I think in the church we've, we 201 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:30,600 get confused and we think revival is this great worship 202 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:33,800 experience and it's this great. Like it's, we sing and we get 203 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:37,520 emotional and it's and, and that's a piece of it. 204 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,680 But I want you to understand that if you want to see God 205 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:44,520 move, if you want to see revival, it starts by knowing 206 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:49,360 him and being fully surrendered. And revival is not best 207 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:54,080 expressed by tears and hands up. Revival is best expressed by 208 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:58,600 changed lives, surrendered hearts, love growing and 209 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:02,920 changing us. The best revivals I've ever 210 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:06,560 seen, Yeah, there was worship, there were hands raised, there 211 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:08,280 was crying. But there were people that were 212 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:12,320 saying I forgive you for that thing that happened 20 years 213 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,040 ago. I don't want to be wrong with 214 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:16,920 you. I can't be right with God if I'm 215 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:19,000 wrong with you. What is true revival? 216 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:20,880 Well, it's theological renewal, renewal. 217 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:25,080 It's a renewed deep love and obedience of the word of God. 218 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:27,600 It's obedience, it's deep repentance. 219 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:32,080 It's a brokenness over sin in a decisive break with the past and 220 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:34,520 sinful behaviours. It's repentance. 221 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:37,240 If you want revival, there has to be repentance. 222 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:42,120 It's Christ centeredness, it's a focus on him, an overwhelming 223 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:45,240 desire to exalt Jesus and seek his Kingdom first. 224 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:49,800 It's a lasting transformation. It's long term change in 225 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:54,160 lifestyle and holiness and in love for others. 226 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,280 And it's a sovereign work. It can only come from God. 227 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:04,080 That's revival. Scripture says here God is love. 228 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:06,160 If you want to know love, look to God. 229 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:10,480 And if you look to God and you know him and you allow him to 230 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,280 transform you, you want to see God move. 231 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:17,880 That's how it's going to happen. Yeah, through worship, but 232 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:21,440 through obedience, through repentance, through focusing on 233 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:24,480 him, and through transformation, through loving each other. 234 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,880 If if you want to see God move, then come to church ready. 235 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:34,120 Come to church ready to lay it all down. 236 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:37,600 Don't come to church ready to see some friends. 237 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:41,320 Don't come to church ready to get through another Sunday. 238 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,840 Don't come to church ready to judge me or the music. 239 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:51,960 Come to church ready to lay your heart open before God, to allow 240 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:57,440 Him to convict and transform anything in your heart that 241 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,360 doesn't bring Him glory. Surrender fully and I promise 242 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:05,080 you, revival comes. We cannot have revival without 243 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,760 complete surrender. We cannot have revival if we're 244 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:10,880 not right with each other and if we're not willing to be right 245 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,200 with each other, there can be no revival. 246 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:18,080 It takes surrender. And this says if you will know 247 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:21,520 Him, if you will surrender, if you will walk in His love, then 248 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:25,480 you will see Him move. No one's ever seen God. 249 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:31,120 But if, if we walk in His love, then His love is made complete 250 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:36,000 in US. Guys, I got to be honest with 251 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:40,840 you, I, I come into church way too often with too much on my 252 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:44,560 mind. And sometimes I just have to 253 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:48,720 say, God, take that away. I mean, even while we're 254 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:50,880 singing, guys, I'm, I'm the same as you. 255 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:54,960 Sometimes we're singing and I'm, I'm judging and I'm thinking and 256 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:57,880 I have to say, God, it's, this isn't about me. 257 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:01,200 This is about you, and I have to surrender. 258 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:05,680 You want revival? Come ready to worship. 259 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:10,680 You want to see God move? Come with an open heart, 260 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:15,760 obedient and surrendered, and learn to love each other better. 261 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:21,000 Burt Bacharach was right. You didn't know you were going 262 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:22,880 to hear about Burt Bacharach today, did you? 263 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:25,280 But he was right. What the world needs now is 264 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:28,680 love, sweet love. It's the only thing that there's 265 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:30,320 just too little of. I'd sing it to you, but you 266 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:34,200 wouldn't enjoy it. But the world doesn't need 267 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:38,560 Hollywood love, and the world doesn't need social media love, 268 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:42,080 and the world doesn't need celebrity love. 269 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:46,840 The world needs God's love. So start look to Jesus. 270 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:51,120 Say look to Jesus now #2 say grow in Jesus. 271 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,920 We look to Jesus, but we have to grow in Jesus as we look to him 272 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,920 and we know him more. We have to be transformed into 273 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:02,240 his image and we grow to become like Him and we learn to love 274 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:04,440 better. Verse 16 says God is love. 275 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:07,360 Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them. 276 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:10,840 And this is how love is made complete among us so that we 277 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:15,600 will have confidence on the day of judgment in this world. 278 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:19,880 We are like Jesus. Say praise the Lord, praise the 279 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:23,000 Lord guys, we believe in holiness. 280 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:26,320 We believe that we are being transformed into the image of 281 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:27,800 God. Not that we're some people that 282 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:32,040 are just rotten and terrible. Yes we were, Yes we can be. 283 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,160 But know that we are being transformed into the image of 284 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:37,600 God. That we will have confidence on 285 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:39,800 the day of judgement that in this world we are like Jesus. 286 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:43,880 There is No Fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear 287 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,040 because fear has to do with punishment. 288 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:50,920 The one who made who? Who is the one who fears is not 289 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:52,560 made perfect. Three things we see right here. 290 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:56,880 Number one, we can live confident #2 we can be like 291 00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:02,280 Jesus and #3 there's no reason to fear if we're living in the 292 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:04,839 love of God and the love of Christ. 293 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:08,160 Listen, we talk about the altars a lot. 294 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:10,920 Every week. I try to tell you that the 295 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,319 altars are open. And sometimes I think we view 296 00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:17,160 the altars as a place of shame or defeat. 297 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:19,359 Guys, that couldn't be further from the truth. 298 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,839 The altar isn't a place of shame and defeat, it's a place of 299 00:17:22,839 --> 00:17:26,160 victory. This says we can live confident 300 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:29,000 for the day of judgement. A lot of people aren't living 301 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:30,480 confident for the day of judgement. 302 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:34,120 They say I can't go to church because I know what I've done 303 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,160 and God knows what I've done. Guys, I want you to know that 304 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,280 God loves you so much. If you know His love, then you 305 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:45,200 would understand that He has already paid the price for your 306 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:47,880 sins. He's already paid the price for 307 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,680 your worst days, for your worst things that you've done. 308 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:53,440 He's paid the price and He's drawing you to Him. 309 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:56,640 Guys, the altar is a place of repentance and beauty, and it's 310 00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:00,200 a place of victory. Sometimes we don't want to walk 311 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:02,320 up to the altar because we're worried about what other people 312 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:03,920 will think. Let me tell you what I think 313 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:06,560 when we don't go to the altar. I think we're not living 314 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:10,880 surrendered and we're not living in His victory and we're not 315 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:18,840 living in His love. We can live confident, confident 316 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:24,240 on the day of judgement in this world. 317 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:29,280 We are like Jesus and there is No Fear in love. 318 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:32,760 First John, first John 5. The next chapter starts by 319 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:34,920 saying this. Everyone who believes that Jesus 320 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:38,800 is the Christ is born of God and everyone who loves the Father 321 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,080 loves the child as well, His child as well. 322 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:45,680 This is how we know that we love the children of God, by loving 323 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:48,040 God and carrying out His commands. 324 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:52,360 In fact, this is love for God to keep His commands. 325 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:56,520 Now listen to this part. His commands are not burdensome, 326 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,880 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. 327 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:03,960 This is the victory that's overcome the world, even our 328 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:05,440 faith. Who is it that overcomes the 329 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:07,480 world? Only the one who believes that 330 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,360 Jesus is the Son of God praise the Lord. 331 00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:13,200 We can live in confidence because we know that God loves 332 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:16,000 us, because we know that he loves us so much that he already 333 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,560 paid the price for our sins, that he's drawing us to him. 334 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,640 Praise the Lord that we can live like Jesus and praise the Lord 335 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,360 that we don't have to live in fear and we don't have to live 336 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:31,160 in burdensome religion. We can live in joy. 337 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:33,720 Yesterday I was at the campground. 338 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:37,280 We had our annual ministers licensing retreat. 339 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:40,000 So that's where if you're a, if you're a minister, you feel 340 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,960 called to ministry, then you go on this path and, and through 341 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:45,520 this path, you would get local license at the church level and 342 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:47,800 then you would get a district license on the district level. 343 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:50,800 And then you come to the point of ordination. 344 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:53,760 And so one of the big parts of this weekend is that we gather 345 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:56,000 together. There's about 15 of us that 346 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,800 gather in a room and anyone that's coming up to be ordained 347 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:01,920 has to come in front of us and interview with us. 348 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:05,920 And that can be. That can be a fearful thing. 349 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,080 I can tell you it used to be that everyone wore black suits 350 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:11,240 and sat in that room. That was way before my time. 351 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:15,240 I would have never made it, but but everyone wore black suits 352 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:16,800 and there used to be a lot of fear. 353 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:18,040 Oh, what are they going to ask me? 354 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:20,080 They're judging me. Am I going to be good enough? 355 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:24,600 And there was this fear and and I, I got to tell you, I love, I 356 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,680 love that that time. Yeah, it's hard to get in front 357 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:29,360 of people. But I got to tell you, the 15 358 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:32,720 people that are sitting there are not pastors that are looking 359 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:37,240 to judge and condemn and keep people from coming to walk in 360 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:39,080 ministry. We are people that we want to 361 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:40,800 see other people grow in ministry. 362 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:43,200 And it's so beautiful, guys. I wish you could see it. 363 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:47,200 It's so beautiful to sit there with someone who got his called 364 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,640 to hear their ministry. And yeah, sometimes there need 365 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:54,720 to be some tough things said, but it's all done in this 366 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:57,800 beautiful love, guys. If you understood his love for 367 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:00,560 you, you would live in confidence knowing that you're a 368 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:04,960 child of God and you would have No Fear. 369 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:08,720 One of the really cool interviews yesterday was a guy 370 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:13,760 from from Nigeria and he was telling us all about all the bad 371 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,280 things that have happened in his homeland. 372 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:21,560 And and one of the people in the questions said, Hey, how in the 373 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:23,480 world? I mean, you are the most joyful 374 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:26,560 person in this room. How can you be joyful? 375 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:31,560 This guy had lost five family members to tragedy, to murder, 376 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:34,480 to the evil, the kid. They said, you've seen the worst 377 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,400 of humans in the world. How can you sit here and be 378 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:41,480 joyful? You want to know the love of 379 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:45,200 Christ? There's No Fear, there's 380 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:48,160 confidence and there's joy. Why? 381 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:51,320 Because we have overcome the world. 382 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:54,360 There's victory in the love of Christ. 383 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,640 You have some troubles, and Brad talked about this, Brad, Brad 384 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,840 preached about this for a while. Just a little bit ago, you got 385 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:08,960 troubles taken to God. Today you can be the most joyful 386 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:12,680 person in the room, even if you're dying. 387 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,360 Today you can be the most joyful person in the room even if 388 00:22:16,360 --> 00:22:20,240 you're in the middle of some really hideous relational stuff. 389 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,440 The only way, though, is to walk in the love of Christ. 390 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:27,720 See, knowing God's love number one gives us confidence in our 391 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:30,880 status with God. We don't have to come to God 392 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:35,640 with our tail between our legs. We can come confident that His 393 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:40,720 grace is sufficient. We can come confident, not 394 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:42,560 thinking. I don't come to the altar 395 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:45,160 thinking, Oh no, is God going to forgive me? 396 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:47,520 No, He's already forgiven me. He loves me. 397 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:50,240 He wants me to come to Him. I don't come to the altar 398 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:53,040 wondering if God's grace is enough to cover my sin. 399 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:56,200 I come knowing that the price has been paid and that His grace 400 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:57,920 is sufficient. I don't come to the altar 401 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,120 wondering if I'm good enough, if He can transform me. 402 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:05,800 I come knowing that he who began a good work will bring it on to 403 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:11,880 completion. I come in confidence #2 it frees 404 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,360 us from fear and anxiety. I love the song. 405 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:21,240 Turn your eyes on Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and 406 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:24,760 the things of earth will grow strangely to him in the light of 407 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:29,280 his glory and grace. We can live confident, and we 408 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:35,120 don't have to live in fear. But the third thing is that we 409 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:38,440 can be like Jesus. Don't miss that part. 410 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:41,640 It says this is how we have confidence in this world. 411 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:45,800 We are like Jesus guys. We we believe in holiness in our 412 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,520 church. We believe that God is 413 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,920 transforming us into his image. Not that you never have a bad 414 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:55,840 day or you never slip up or you never make a mistake, but we 415 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:59,320 believe that God is transforming us to have a love that is so 416 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:05,280 strong for him, so on fire for Him that we have no desire to 417 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:07,920 sin and fall short. We want to please him with 418 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:11,600 everything in our life says in this world, you are like Jesus. 419 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:15,520 We can actually be like Jesus. You're not going to probably 420 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:17,600 turn water to wine. You're probably not going to go 421 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:18,960 hit someone in the head and heal him. 422 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,920 But I'm telling you that God's power is at work in you as 423 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:25,200 spirit lives in you. And God can do anything through 424 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:27,000 you. And what he wants to do is he 425 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,560 wants to transform your heart and to teach you to love like 426 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:34,720 Jesus so that we're not just a bunch of flawed people walking 427 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:40,360 around just doing our best. We are the transformed people of 428 00:24:40,360 --> 00:24:45,920 God who are becoming more and more like him. 429 00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:51,040 So say, look to him. Look to Jesus now. 430 00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:57,000 Say grow in Jesus just as an athlete, just as a preacher, 431 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:02,360 just as anyone else has to take inventory and has to practice 432 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:06,080 and has to know a lot of times my kids will play games and 433 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,000 after the game we'll talk about their game. 434 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:10,720 And listen, I, I love my kids. They're awesome. 435 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:15,320 They're incredible great, you know, great athletes and I love 436 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:17,120 that. But listen, I don't want to just 437 00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:21,160 be, hey, you did a great job. I want them to get better. 438 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:23,480 I want them to be better what they do. 439 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,280 So sometimes that's hard. Sometimes I say, hey, you know, 440 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,640 you had a great game. I love you, you're the best. 441 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:34,920 But you know this little moment right here, if you do this and 442 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:36,440 they, they don't like that too much. 443 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:38,800 That's what I've learned. The kids don't like that too 444 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,120 much. But how do you get better? 445 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,960 How do you grow if you're not taking inventory? 446 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,040 And so we're not just called to look to Jesus to know Him. 447 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,400 We're called to be transformed and to grow in Him. 448 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:54,080 Guys, if you are 90 years old and you're here today, 449 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:59,440 congratulations, but you have not made it and you have not 450 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,040 gotten to the point that you are stopping your spiritual growth. 451 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:10,760 You are called to grow in love. There is no retirement from 452 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:15,520 growth in Christ. We are called to become like 453 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:20,720 Jesus and that never ends until the one day we stand in His 454 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,200 presence and experience His glory. 455 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:27,800 Verse 19 says we love because He first loved us. 456 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:31,160 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a 457 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,560 liar. For whoever does not love their 458 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:36,560 brother and sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom 459 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:39,080 they have not seen. And He has given us this 460 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,240 command. Anyone who loves God must also 461 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:47,280 love their brother and sister. Say look to Jesus, Say grow in 462 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,760 Jesus. Now say love. 463 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:59,040 Like Jesus, we can love. We love because he first loved 464 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,000 us. Guys, I got to tell you, you, 465 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:07,880 you, you couldn't love God if it weren't for his love for you 466 00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:12,800 because God is love. Without his love, we don't even 467 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,440 know what love is. We couldn't possibly do it. 468 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:17,560 We love because he first loved us. 469 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:20,320 We don't love him so that please get this right. 470 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:24,440 Please understand this. We don't love God so that God 471 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:28,960 will love us. We love God because He first 472 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:32,640 loved us. We can love God because He first 473 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:35,400 loved us. We love Him in response to what 474 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:37,920 He has done for us, to His love for us. 475 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,600 The more we know Him, the more we will know His love for us. 476 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,040 The more we know His love for us, the more we will love Him. 477 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,600 The more you know how much God loves you, the more you can 478 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:51,160 learn to love Him back and love each other. 479 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:56,840 I want you to know the depth of God's love for you today. 480 00:27:58,080 --> 00:27:59,920 So here's the deal. You know that you're not 481 00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:01,720 perfect, right? Nod your head if you know you're 482 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:07,640 not perfect, all right? Some of you, some of you didn't 483 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:10,560 nod at me. It's a moment of imperfection 484 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:15,240 and we'll forgive it. You know you're not perfect. 485 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:19,200 In fact, you know the worst things you've ever thought, the 486 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,120 worst things you've ever said, and the worst things you've ever 487 00:28:21,120 --> 00:28:22,640 done. Don't you nod your head if you 488 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:24,920 know the worst things you've ever thought, the worst things 489 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:26,560 you've ever said, and the worst things you've ever done. 490 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:31,920 Can I tell you the truth? God knows your flaws. 491 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,640 God knows your failures even more than you do. 492 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:39,000 Let me tell you why. See, we have blind spots. 493 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:42,280 That's a that's a fact. People have blind spots. 494 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:46,160 We know some of our failures, but but every single one of us 495 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:49,040 has some blind spots in our life that we don't even we don't even 496 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:53,480 know the depth. Can I tell you that God knows 497 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:56,600 the depth of your failure and your sin? 498 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,480 God knows the depth of your inadequacy. 499 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:04,680 And can I tell you the good news of the Gospel? 500 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:09,120 That He loves you so much that He sent his one and only Son to 501 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:11,600 die on a cross to pay for your sins? 502 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,080 This is love. Not that we loved him, but that 503 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:16,640 He loved us. And He sent his Son so that we 504 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,200 could live through him. He sent his Son as an atoning 505 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:22,800 sacrifice. Guys, God knows your worst. 506 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:28,520 You, you're not surprising him. He knows your worst and He still 507 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:33,600 chooses to love you. Man, when you understand that 508 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:40,320 there's No Fear, when you understand that, that frees you. 509 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:43,120 You don't have to worry about if you're good enough. 510 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:45,920 You don't have to listen. God's already made it abundantly 511 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:47,360 clear. He created you. 512 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:49,600 He created all these good things around you. 513 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,920 He chose you. He knows you deeply. 514 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,680 He chose to send his Son to die on a cross so that you could be 515 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,760 forgiven of your sins. He, he chose his Son to raise 516 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,120 from the dead so that you could have life everlasting. 517 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:04,840 He fills you with his spirit. He continues. 518 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:08,520 He gave us his word. He continues to chase after and 519 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:13,080 to speak to us. God continues to come after us. 520 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:20,480 There's no mystery. God loves you more than you will 521 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:25,480 ever know. We can love because He first 522 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:31,480 loved us. Now He invites us to live in His 523 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:34,880 love and to share His love with others. 524 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:39,720 That's a beautiful thing, says we love because he first loved 525 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:41,480 us. And then it goes on and says you 526 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:44,320 need to learn to love each other. 527 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:50,240 That's the evidence of somebody who is walking in his love is 528 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:52,080 that they love the people around them. 529 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:57,560 So say look to look to Jesus, say grow to grow in Jesus. 530 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:01,320 Say love like Jesus. That's what we're called to. 531 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:05,160 We're going to we're going to wrap up with communion 532 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,160 responding in in God's to God's word and communion worship team. 533 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:12,000 You can come on up. You know, we started by talking 534 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:21,680 about becoming like our parents. I had really great parents, but 535 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:27,000 I'm also a parent. And as I think about that, as I 536 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:34,320 think about being a father, I sure hope that the model, that 537 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:40,400 the example that I set is an example of God's love as a 538 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:44,720 husband. I sure hope that I show the love 539 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:48,480 of Christ to my wife. As a pastor, I don't want to 540 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:52,160 stand up here and be anything other than someone that points 541 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:57,080 to Jesus. Guys, we're called to know him. 542 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:04,880 We're called to grow in Him and we're called to love like Jesus. 543 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:09,840 We're going to take communion. The scripture says this is love. 544 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:14,960 Not that we loved him, but He loved us, and He sent His Son so 545 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:18,000 that we could have life. An atoning sacrifice. 546 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:22,160 Communion means is a sacrament. A sacrament means grace flows. 547 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:23,960 So here's the deal. We're going to take communion 548 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:25,720 here in a minute. And what you're going to do is 549 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:27,600 you're going to come get the elements and you're going to 550 00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:29,080 hold them. And then halfway through the 551 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:30,880 song, we're going to take them together. 552 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:34,160 Here's what I want you to to do. I want you to respond to God's 553 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:39,000 Word today as you hold the elements #1 maybe you need to 554 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,840 know His love a little bit more. Maybe you've been doubting. 555 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:45,320 Maybe you've been struggling. Today I pray that He will make 556 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:49,800 it abundantly clear just how much He loves you #2IN 557 00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:52,440 communion. We come and we surrender. 558 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:56,280 We don't just know His love, but we surrender our hearts. 559 00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:59,280 We open our hearts and we say, God, is there anything that 560 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:01,320 doesn't bring you glory and honor? 561 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:04,080 And if there is, change it. So today we want to know His 562 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:06,760 love, but #2 we want to surrender. 563 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:12,160 We want to be transformed. We want to grow in Jesus and #3 564 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:14,600 we want to be led to love others. 565 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:20,600 We want to be empowered to love others, to love like Jesus. 566 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:24,480 So in in a minute after I pray, you can come and grab the 567 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:27,400 elements and just hold them. And I would ask you to pray, 568 00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:31,160 respond to God's word, surrender completely. 569 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:35,400 You want revival, you want to see God lay it all on the line 570 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:37,840 and trust him. Father, I prayed speak to us. 571 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:41,840 I pray that as we take the elements together here in a few 572 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:44,160 minutes, Lord, I pray that you would do your work. 573 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:49,200 Pray that you would show us your love, I pray that you would help 574 00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:51,960 us to surrender, and I pray you would transform us into your 575 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:55,240 image, and I pray that you would teach us to love each other 576 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:57,640 better. We give you everything now. 577 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:02,360 We worship you through responding in communion in Jesus 578 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,120 name, Amen. Come and get the elements, Pray, 579 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:07,120 hold them and we'll take them together.